How much weight on the engine covers?

[Captain Decent]

The one thing I don’t like about my Bertram is absolutely zero fish storage. So what do you guys do with your fish?

I don’t want a bunch of coolers crowding my deck so I’m thinking about strapping either coolers or kill bags to the top of the engine boxes. They seem pretty stout. Does anyone know what the weight rating would be? I assume since you have to step on them to access the bridge it must be a couple hundred pounds or more? What do you think?

[bob lico]

my "kill boxes" are double the sise of a 50' Bertram /Hatteras ! why don`t you do a search

[John Swick]

Kill bag across the transom works great.

Kill bag on the engine boxes...…...really?

[Captain Decent]

Yeah really. I could always fill the deck with coolers and bags but I’d rather not.

[John Swick]

What in God's blue earth are you going to 'fill' the cockpit with man..
You didn't buy a shrimpin' boat.

[bob lico]

the most important factor here is the kill boxes under the deck are number one out of the way while you are fishing,number two and perhaps the most important is with just two bags of ice in each and a gallon of salt water you make "salt ice" with just 1/2" of solid insulation around boxes the fish go into a hibernation state 5 hours afterward when you start fileting they are completely alive (stripe bass,fluke,flounder,sea bass,cod,tilefish,bluefish. mahi mahi normaly die and tuna cannot slush around must be treated in a differant method but a 31 Bertram kill box with hold a 500 pound bluefin tuna in one box or a 250 pound mako shark. with the other box filled with ice to shovel in to make a bed of ice surrounding the tuna.

[Carl]

I'm sure you could put a few hundred pound on them...I drive from there with a couple guys often around on them too and never had an issue.

Also when on trips the coolers get filled and left up on the boxs keeping them out of the sun. Three filled with Ice and drinks. Ice and food and Dry Ice and Frozen items.
I however do not travel with them up there as they are in my way and in seas they move. Tackle boxs on the motor boxes move too...had more then one go sliding off.
I find a coolers double well as seats in the cockpit. When running heavy, I slide them into the cabin, sometimes all the way up to the v-berth.

Large fish kill bags work for a catch that doesn't fit in the cooler.

[bob lico]

these are the largest boxes you can possibly fit in a 31 bertram. i remove cockpit support beams and replace with cockpit beams touching fuel tank and upright supports directly under the beams the OEM were offset so i gain 1" the entire box next there is another stringer about 1' from chime so with the exhaust against the chime i used this stringer with floor beam directly over with flush uprights supports so boxes go stringer to stringer from rudder support to kevlar shaft log (even a indent in bottom of box over shaft log to gain another two inches . i use "slam hatches" so i lift hatch slightly and slide fish into box with my foot into the salt ice.real quick when you are taking in sea bass one after another.

[PeterPalmieri]

I'm going to say bad idea. The engine boxes can support two grown men sitting on them (500 lbs) but the way they sit on the lip attached to the bulkhead there is little side to side support. If you strap a heavy load on them and the boat starts pitching side to side it could end badly or fall on someone. This also depends on if they are the original boxes and how they are supported or if they've been modified. Personally I don't mind throwing coolers up on the boxes while idle but for a long haul in the ocean I would prefer them down on the deck. You could design a support system and make this work, plenty of Bahia's that have cooler mounts built into the engine box with some modification.

Obviously building fish boxes are a nice choice. I prefer a cooler behind the fighting chair, plenty of room to walk around the cockpit, with the option of a kill bag that can be strapped down onto the swim platform, or if fishing is done for the day across the transom.

[Captain Decent]

My Bertram doesn’t have any built in fish boxes and there isn’t any room for any either. We fish 6 guys and run a troll spread and live bait so we need room especially since there is bait tank right in the middle. We need to be able to store 20, 30, maybe 40 albacore which average around 20lbs.

In the past on my Grady’s, we’d load 500 to 700lbs of shaved ice. The boat had a hold for around 10 fish and then we’d have a cooler on the bow and a big kill bag in each side of the walk around to keep the deck clear. I love the huge deck on this thing and don’t want to fill it up. 1 or 2 kill bags on the deck would be no issue.

[mike ohlstein]

Six guys is a load..... I usually fish with one or two other guys. I keep a commercial box on the deck, in between the engines and the rocket launcher. The whole stern is clear. I usually load it 1/2 full of ice and take off. When I get to the canyon, I dump in two boxes of kosher salt and 15 gallons of seawater. Good to go.

https://www.dacocorp.com/containers-tot ... ce-totes#1



When full, it has never moved.... but I can see how it could go right through the side of the boat if a big enough force acted on it. I've added rings to mine so I can strap it down.

[Charlie J]

when running mike i would strap mine down
thats a lot weight moving around
great bommer boxes

[Tony Meola]

Going off shore we use to use the old style fish box with the teak cover that ran along the transom. Filled with crushed and also block ice. Put a rug under it and even in 6 footers it never moved. It would hold 5 60 lb yellow fin and was never in the way when trolling. We also used to put a cooler on the engine box filled with ice right behind the ladder. Put a towel under her and tied a rope to it and ran it to the midship cleat to make sure it did not slide off. Another cooler under the table in the cabin with the food in it for the over going overnight in the canyon and finally a Styrofoam cooler in the cabin with dry ice and the frozen rigged baits.

There a alot of ways to skin the cat. The built in kill box's are the best way to go, but we all can't do that for various reasons.

[Captain Decent]

It makes sense that the boxes are not that rigid laterally so maybe I’ll strap 1 cooler or kill bag on each outboard edge of the box, drop a kill bag on the floor between the boxes and maybe run a couple more on the deck just aft of the boxes.

I also like the idea of maybe just strapping down a half tote.

It’s funny this boat. Ive only had it a couple months and it takes some getting used to as there isn’t any storage for much of anything but I sure do love running it!

[Carl]

Ive only had it a couple months and it takes some getting used to as there isn’t any storage for much of anything but I sure do love running it!

You got that right!

We have a very small cabin for a 31' boat, with even less storage space.

But for that we get a great ride with lots of open cockpit space.

[bob lico]

keep in mind by placing the ice,salt water,fish below the cockpit you also make a tremedous effect on roll . the weight is spread out evenly on both sides of cockpit and plants those reverse chine evenly in the water along the cockpit waterline.another major reason is the direct sun,heat on the entire cooler or Canyon bag rather then the salt ice sitting two inches above bilge (floor kill boxes rest on the bilge bottom of boat with 1/2" reveal along bottom of boxes for water to drain back) . so the box is only affected by ambient temperature of water rather than the sun`s effect, i wish i could take each one of you offshore to see a 31 Bertram that does not roll.the chines are under water doing their thing the entire distance of the cockpit is the secret.

[Craig Mac]

The first 31 we owned came with a above deck fish box that had a teak cover and a curved teak piece to fit the contour of the transom---I think it was listed as an option on the factory price list and may have been sourced from Pompenette----it has long been gone----but remember seeing other 31's with it . We mounted a fighting chair with footrest and there was no clearance for box and footrest---we ditched the box and not sure where it ended up.

[Capt.Frank]

I have been running with a 72 qt Igloo cooler on each engine box for years. One on Port side, gives people a back rest with a pad. Fish box against transom, inside came from Davis boat works years ago rapped with foam and glassed it. I like it because I can remove it when want space. I keep food and drinks in one and extra ice and bait in other cooler stb side. has worked well for me. I would love to re-due deck with built in fish boxes, on day.

I have not notice a problem with the weight. I don't think I would put a rotomold cooler up there too heavy maybe.

My .02
Good luck

[bob lico]

mike that commercial box has a 500 lbs capacity and you fill about 3/4 full ice and salt water roughtly 400 lbs. the datum line would be about 3' from bilge that is a 1200 foot pound center of gravity change to a 31 Bertram so it would increase roll but help centerline balance with 4cyl yanmar engines actually enought weight to put chines back into water with 3/4 to full tank of fuel so in your case aside from the roll the boat will run in the rought stuff much better until you come to a stop,like chunking at night.what do you think?

[mike ohlstein]

I agree. And actually while I'm running out, I also have a bladder with 75 to 100 gallons of fuel on the deck as well. So another 600 pounds all the way aft. Leaving from Hempstead Harbor, it's easily 110 miles to the edge. So I arrive, transfer fuel, stow the bladder, and start trolling.

[bob lico]

OPPS i through you were out of Shennicock inlet. wow that is a long way around.

[mike ohlstein]

I left Shinnecock shortly before Doug Oakland passed. Now the boat is 5 minutes from my house, but the canyon is a long haul.

[Pete Fallon]

I used to carry 2 181 quart igloo coolers full of bait mainly herring when I fished for giants back in the early 80's on each engine box, under the helm and companion chairs. The helm and the companion chairs were mounted from the express wings and had a single stainless pole for the upright support. I had a 1961 express cruiser with the old two piece covers with extra supports under the outer edges of the boxes. Full 181 Igloo's weighed close to 250 pounds and I weighed 225 and my fishing companions were all over 225 usually fished 6 people. If it was really sloppy , over 6' I put the Igloo's behind the boxes until I got to where I was going to fish then move them to the engine box covers. My cockpit had a Pompenette unlimited fighting chair with a teak foot rest. Bob Licio has the best set up with in deck insulate fish boxes that I have seen. Just don't run without some kind of tie down on the coolers if they are on top of the boxes.
Pete Fallon

[bob lico]

thank you Pete and the Good the Bad and the Ugly of the under cockpit boxes are with the use of slam hatches there is no need to lift hatch to 90 degrees and no handle to turn to open like big Bertram ,so over a reef you just unhook, drop fish on cockpit and slide fish into box in 5 seconds, the bad;water so cold in box that you cannot store drinks or water they freeze and a barrel of shark chum will refreeze !!!! the ugly is when my son starts to remove fish from box the fish are in hibernation state and come alive in a couple of minutes in your hand. so don`t stick your hand in that freezing water in front of there mouth -------THEY BITE use kelvar glove.especially bluefish which we take one for his mother in law. UGH

[EarleyBird]

For what’s its worth. Our fishbox on the EarleyBird is in the cabin portside where the original settee was. I have owned the boat for 33 years and has been in there for 28. Using the longitudinal stringers as the width and forward and aft bulkhead as the length. We framed it with mahogany, enclosed it with louan. It is fiberglassed, insulated and gel coated. There is a removable plug drain to the bilge. The top side is 3/4” plywood with a center 40” hinged door and removable fwd and aft sections.With excess bloody water we use a thirsty mate pump to remove most. It will easily hold 5 totes of ice. In addition on the three sides, lying above the plywood horizontal door (outboard,fwd. and aft) are 4” thick foam vinyl cushions making it a perfect bed. You all know what motors I have and no tabs. She does not list running, rides better in a chop, though a tad slower going Offshore. Coming home less 100 gallons of diesel, she’s at normal cruise. It will hold a lot. If you want pics, let me know. Jim EarleyBird